In 2023, fish cage farming has continued to recover after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With advantages in sale, fish cage farming has brought a fair source of income to thousands of households, especially those residing around Hoa Binh reservoir.
This year, fish cage farming on Hoa Binh reservoir develops stably with good consumption.
Tien Phong is one of the communes of Da Bac district where fish cage farming has been developing vigorously. Currently, there are about 800 fish cages with 400 local households engaged in farming. After experiencing many difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the two past years (2022 - 2023), fish cage farming households in Tien Phong commune have actively restored production and product consumption. In particular, the establishment of Da Giang Eco Cooperative in the commune has helped promote product supply and consumption linkages.
Xa Ngoc Hung, the cooperative’s director, said it currently has seven official members and 90 affiliated households. When the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting the country, its products were unsold, but the consumption of the fish has been much more favourable over the past two years. At present, farmed fish is sold well, particularly specialty fish such as ca lang (hemibagrus wyckii) are sought after.
To develop fish cage farming stably and sustainably, the cooperative has signed contracts with farming households to purchase fish at market prices, he said.
The cooperative is aiming for intensively processed fish products instead of selling fresh fish as before, he said, adding that this suits the needs of customers and is convenient for transportation, thus improving product values, Hung noted.
In 2023, the Da Giang Eco Cooperative had three products rated as three-star under the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme, namely Da River black ca lang (hemibagrus wyckii), Da River black ca tram (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and Da River ca nganh (Cranoglanis sinensis).
Da Bac district has 143ha under aquaculture and 2,060 fish cages, concentrating in Hien Luong, Vay Nua and Tien Phong and other communes.
Bui Khac Vinh, Head of the district’s Division of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in 2023, the protection of aquatic resources has been strengthened and the use of electric shock, explosives, and toxic chemicals to exploit aquatic resources has decreased significantly. Fish cage farmers have paid attention to managing the farming environment and implementing measures to prevent farmed fish from diseases. The district has focused on promoting consumption linkages to develop sustainable fish cage farming and bring high economic efficiency.
Hoa Binh province has a fish farming area of 2,695ha with nearly 5,000 cages. It has built trademarks for fish and shrimp of Da River, which have been certified by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam. The province has set up three product consumption chains in Hoa Binh city, Da Bac district and Tan Lac - Mai Chau, thereby helping to improve the value of Da River’s fish and shrimp as well as expanding product consumption markets.
Hoang Van Son, Director of the provincial Sub-department of Fisheries, said to develop sustainable aquaculture, in the coming time, the sector will continue to restructure fishery and speed up the application of new technology to fishery activities to diversify products. It will also promote research, transfer and application of scientific and technical advances with priority given to high technology and new advanced scientific and technological solutions.
With favourable climate and land advantages, the agriculture sector in Hoa Binh has been attracting investment from enterprises, organisations, and cooperatives, gradually asserting the position of some local specialties in the international market.
Currently, Luong Son district counts 905 business establishments operating in industry and handicraft, helping generate jobs and stable incomes for local labourers.
Hoa Binh scored the highest points in two out of the eight indicators of the Public Administrative Reform (PAR) Index ranking in 2023 that the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on April 17.
A working delegation from Hoa Binh province led by Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Bui Van Khanh is attending a programme to popularise Vietnamese products in the US and Canada on April 20-28.
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